“I just want to say to the kids out there watching:

You can do anything you want in life.

Unless Jay Leno wants to do it too.”

- Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien was hurt by Jay Leno in 2010. He had been contractually guaranteed the prestigious hosting duties of NBC’s The Tonight Show six years earlier and within a matter of months of taking on the new gig, he was Leno’d.

Anytime Conan is asked to look back and talk about that painful experience, he adheres to a simple principle: Don't throw the past under the bus, even when you have been Leno'd.

Conan doesn’t throw the past under the bus. Even when David Letterman was publicly sniffing for dirty laundry to air on his program (that's what gossips do), Conan did not dishonor NBC.

Leaders don't throw the past under the bus, even when they're Leno'd.

There is no honor in tearing down people and organizations . . . especially in church world.

Jesus purchased the church with His blood. That's HUGE!

God loves the church, created the church, and declares the church to be Christ's bride.

Have you ever talked smack about another man's wife? Imagine doing that to Jesus Christ.

If a church has hurt you in the past, that does not give you the right to muddy its name. If a church leader has disappointed you in the past, they are not your enemy (see Ephesians 6:12!).

Forgive and let go. The church's role is NOT to dig up dirt on people but to wipe the dirt off people and launch them into their destiny.

Leaders understand that integrity is doing the right thing even when it hurts. Trust me, I've been unjustly hurt many times during my years of ministry. But I've found that God is honored most when we talk smack the least.

If you're a leader who has walked through the fire, allow Isaac's experience in Genesis 26 to be your model.

Isaac was misunderstood, dishonored, and shunned over and over again. But he doesn't fight back. He submits to the Lord's will and finds closure in a beautiful display of the gospel:

“Isaac asked them, ‘Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?’ They answered, ‘We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you . . . And now you are blessed by the Lord.’ ”

(Excerpt from Holy Shift: Laugh Your Mass Off & Reach More People Far From God by Jonathan Herron)